The Bay of Plenty Times WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 27th. 1941 WHEN WILL BRITAIN STRIKE.

Bay of Plenty Times, Volume LXIX, Issue 13426, 27 August 1941, Page 4

The Bay of Plenty Times WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 27th. 1941 WHEN WILL BRITAIN STRIKE.

The visits to London of the Prime Ministers of the Dominions cannot be regarded as merely courtesy visits to the Prime Minister 1 ot the Lmted Kingdom, but important visits connected with the i vrar. Mr Meczies. the Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of | Australia spent some weeks in England, and obtained a full and j complete knowledge of how Britain stands in relation to the war. Our own Prime Minister. Mr Peter Fraser, has. besides bogging the | freedoms of several Scottish cities, attended the War Council. snd has also made himself familiar with Britain's preparedness for | prosecuting the war until victory is won. The Prime Minister of Canada. Mr Mackenzie King, is now in the Mother Country, and he too will obtain a full and complete knowledge of the situation. There is one other Prime Minister to visit England and that is Field Marshal Smuts. But it was stated that his visit would not take place until October. Mhy these visits! Xo one can tell outside of the M ar Cabinet, but there is no harm in having a lone-shot guess at what it all means. The "Daily Express Loiulci). in dealing with the visits of Dominion Prime Ministers says:—"Plainly big decisions are to be taken on how and where the Empire power will strike.'' The Empire has been steadily gaining in strength, and. it may be said with complete confidence that the British Empire was never better prepared than now to strike a blow at Germany. Britain must take the offensive. She cannot win the war by sitting down. The question is when will she -trike, where and how? Britain has definite field of operations and a probable third. This latter is the Far Ea-j. with the junior partner of the Axis—Japan. This Oriental nation has been causing a great deal of tension, but. ar the moment. Japan > attitude anci intention are or immediate concern to the United States. But Britain is well prepared to deal with any situation that may arise in the Far East. We may drop this subject, for we* do not believe that the Japanese are quite such congenial imbeciles as to provoke a war with the United States and Britain. Then there is the Middle East. Here again we believe that Britain stands on solid ground, and is capable of taking the offensive whenever she chooses. The Xazis and the Fascists in North Africa are piact-tcalh isolated, for their lines or communication are beiu ,r art a eked continuously by the R.A.F. The air force is now able to attacn from -Malta, where the R.A.F. has been reinforced. Field I Marsha Smuts has expressed the view that the decisive battle will be iought in the Mediterranean. This may be a sound prediction, or it may c-e camouflage propaganda. The initiative in the Middle East is with the British and not i with tiie Germans and Italians. There remains the Western Front. I Britain must strike here, but when? That is anybody's guess, but I we may be sure that the responsible authorities in Britain will not j go torward unless fully prepared. Has that stage of complete pre- i paredness been reached? We think it has. The Battle of the Allan- j tic is practically won and war supplies from the United States are j reaching Britain safely and in enormous quantities. Britain appears to be fully prepared, but when will she strike? The Germans ! are now fully engaged dealing with Russia, and are feeling the j strain. They cannot spare aircraft for attacks on Britain. The I German industries have been crippled by the R.A.F. and her man- I power has been greatly reduced by the vigorous defence pur up by th Russians. When will Britain strike? We cannot tell, but the conditions appear favourable for the offensive.